Category: music

How to thin the ranks of prospective composers? Digital video, of course. “‘Maybe we are doing a little pioneering,’ says symphony executive director Jeth Mill. … ‘It is an entirely different world than 11 years ago when the symphony went looking for (leaving conductor) John Morris Russell.'”

“New York artist Zefrey Throwell flew in to create the Entropy Symphony, a series of aural interventions around the world that’s included air horns in Berlin and an attempt to get all the guards at the Whitney to use their walkie talkies at once. The Los Angeles edition was an orchestrated movement in five parts of some 1,000 cars across the Southland. Each participant received an mp3 attuned to their car horn and were instructed to honk along with the mp3.”

“Is multimedia the breakthrough orchestras have been looking for to attract new audiences – as supertitles were for opera 25 years ago? Audiences have shown little resistance to visual elements incorporated into the Houston Symphony’s concerts, orchestra CEO Mark Hanson said. Yet other factors complicate the question.”

So, why is the financial health of so many American classical music institutions unstable?

“Louisville Orchestra musicians rejected the board’s offer Thursday to settle a nearly yearlong contract dispute through binding arbitration, calling the details of the proposal ‘draconian’.”

“British musicians are calling for a consistent policy on carrying instruments on planes across airlines, after a similar bill was passed in the US. … The Musicians’ Union is asking the British government to standardise requirements because ‘musicians regularly have problems taking their instruments on planes due to inconsistent policies from airlines and extortionate fees’.”

“UK music industry revenue fell just 3.4% last year to £795m as the steady decline in the popularity of CDs was offset by a 25% increase in income from digital downloads and subscription services such as Spotify and Napster.”

“Every magazine in the sector that reported a year-on-year comparison saw sales decline against the second half of 2010, according to the latest Audit Bureau of Circulations figures for the six months to December released on Thursday.”

“I miss that idea of a narrative in a musical selection, the idea that the DJ takes you on a journey.”

“The performance on Saturday — which also will include the combined L.A. Phil and Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra along with eight vocal soloists, all conducted by Gustavo Dudamel — will turn Mahler’s so-called “Symphony of a Thousand” into something 40% larger. This is said to be the most ever for a Mahler Eighth.”